PASSPASS NEWSLETTERIssue No.5, Semester B, 2010

PASS at Refreshers Fair

New mentors reflect on PASS

PASS mentors tooka table at QMSU’sRefreshers Fair on14 January in theGreat Hall.

For anyone who doesn’t knowabout it, this event is for first-yearswho were still rather overwhelmedat the newness of things at thetime of Freshers Fair inSeptember.

The table was set up anddecorated by SEMS mentors andorganiser Dipen Patel, ThiagaEdirisinghe and Mel Gabriel. Theywere later joined to staff the standthroughout the day by organisersJoanna Piddock (SLLF), SerapGonen (SBCS) and Helena du Toit(Electronic Engineering – picturedright). Serap commented, ‘It was a very productive day for SBCS asthere was a lot of student interestwe have been able to follow up.’

These comments are from two new mentorsin Computer Science who, modestly, wish toremain anonymous:

We found that the training for becoming aPASS mentor (because all departments aretrained together) mainly focused aroundlearning how to interact with the studentsand assist them with problems outside ofwork. However, the truth was that PASSsessions for Computer Science focusedentirely on work. Students often attendedsessions during periods where courseworkwas given and exams were forthcoming.Nonetheless, the PASS sessions werebrilliant and highly enjoyable since thestudents were very smart! They were oftendedicated enough to want to remain aheadof schedule, which was always a nicefeeling. Overall, we felt that the PASS

experience was valuable in helping us withour teaching and interpersonal skills, and itis certainly something that we will definitelywant to continue for the second semesterand third year (if we are invited to return!).

I thoroughly enjoyed this semester's PASSsessions. Although initially I felt that theresponsibility would be too much for aperson to bear, since I had other mentorswith me, it became easier. I found that thefirst-year students were a very enthusiasticgroup of people who enjoyed turning upeven if they had no problems! I found thisexperience very useful in helping medevelop my teaching and learning skills(since I learned new material that weweren't taught ourselves). I am very muchlooking forward to continuing this nextsemester.

Peer Assisted Study SUPPORT

• New webpage for PASS

• PASS at Refreshers Fair

• New mentors reflect on PASS

• Building a close relationship with academics

• Alumni news

• PASS in video series

• Finding out more

Welcome to the fifth PASS Newsletter.Please send contributions orcomments for future issues to:d.m.andrews@qmul.ac.uk. Thedeadline for Issue 6 is 4 May 2010.

New webpagefor PASSVideo material on PASS and back copies ofthis newsletter can now be found on thePASS page on the Queen Mary website:www.qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/educationliaison/access/pass.html. Thanks to RichardHirst and Hema Narain-Opalinska in thePublications and Web Office for all theirhard work on this.

Welcome

In this issue:

Helena du Toit (Electronic Engineering)

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PASS invideo seriesMel Gabriel, studentorganiser for SEMS, wasfilmed talking about PASS(with Debbie Andrews)earlier this semester.

This was part of a series of short videosmade by Giles Martin, Learning andTeaching Development Adviser inEducational and Staff Development, forthe use and interest of lecturers andtutors at Queen Mary. A clip from ourfilm, PASS at Queen Mary, featuringPASS academic coordinators Dr CarolineBrennan (SBCS) and Dr Robert Johnson(Maths), former academic coordinator Dr Rachel Ashworth (Dentistry), PASSorganiser Helena du Toit and formerPASS mentor Chris Gungaloo (bothElectronic Engineering) are alsoincluded. If you want to see what Melhad to say, go to: www.screencast.com/t/NjMxZDU3NjMt (This is a temporarylocation and an updated link, whensettled, will be given in the nextnewsletter and from the new PASSwebpage.)

PASSPeer Assisted Study Support

Building a closerelationshipwith academicsJames Snee, as PASS studentorganiser in Computer Science,heads up the team whichcontains the mentors from theprevious piece. He reflects onthe importance of goodrelationships between PASSmentors and organisers andacademics in their departments:

Every department that decides to take partin PASS has an appointed academiccoordinator who acts as the go-between forPASS organisers and their department. Therelationship that is held between theorganiser and academic coordinator is animportant one and can go towards definingthe success or failure of the department’sPASS scheme. There is another set ofrelationships equally important to thesuccess of PASS: that between the PASSorganiser, mentors and the first yearstudents’ lecturers. They are the ones whowrite and present the material to thestudents; they are marking the students’exams and ultimately know what they wantfrom a student in order for them to pass thecourse.

In Computer Science we have worked hardover the past year to lay down thefoundations of this relationship between thePASS mentors and the lecturers. We areespecially lucky because all of the mentorsare excellent outgoing people and alreadyhave a good rapport with the academics.We see the relationship working in twoways. First of all, the lecturers are able toinform us of impending coursework or mid-term exams as well as material that they seestudents struggling with. We can then takethis information and feed it into how wecarry out our PASS sessions. Something

that became very useful over the pastsemester was running what we called‘themed’ sessions. These were PASSsessions that were aimed at answeringquestions on a particular topic. We foundthat given the information we gathered fromthe academics, we could more accuratelygive help to struggling students. We werealso able to timetable in mentors who weremore able to answer the types of questionswe anticipated, again furthering theeffectiveness of the session.

As I said above, this is a two-wayrelationship. The second important part ofthe discussion with lecturers is the mentorsfeeding back what they have found whenrunning sessions. It is well known thatstudents prefer to talk to other students andthis makes them more likely to tell one ofthe mentors that they are finding aparticular topic difficult. This information isinvaluable to lecturers. With it they are ablefurther to explore certain areas in order tocement the students’ understanding andwithout it they might not know whatstudents are finding hard.

So far we have had good feedback fromstudents and lecturers. It is only the secondsemester we have tried it in ComputerScience but it has already proven to be auseful and rewarding resource. It can helpstudents air their worries and lecturers findout what students are finding particularlydifficult.

Dr Tassos Tombros comments:As both the academic coordinator for PASSin DCS and a first-year lecturer, I havefound that having these communicationchannels between lecturers and PASSorganisers/mentors open is extremelyhelpful, and it gives me a very goodindication of what aspects of my module thestudents struggle with. This is somethingthat we will certainly encourage and that wehope to continue seeing in future years.

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Alumni news

Khaled Abid, in quieter times, seated betweencurrent mentors Mohamed Kadir and AkhtarJan (SEMS)

Current PASS organiser Serap Gonen (SBCS) gets some advice from former PASS organiser Nuzhah Gooda Sahib at the PASSstand at Refreshers Fair

Nuzhah Gooda Sahib (former PASS mentor and student organiser in Computer Science, nowa doctoral student at Queen Mary) thinks PASS mentors are just the sort of students she islooking for a new voluntary project on campus, SIFE (see below):

Nima Farah says that she also looks back on her PASS mentoring with pleasure and thatworking on PASS helped her develop her ability to ‘multi-task’. She writes:

‘I liked being able to explain a concept to first years and seeing their reaction when theyunderstood. I am currently studying for an MSc at Barts while working part time in centralLondon and volunteering. I hope to continue studying afterwards.’

Three of the PASS alumni featured were last year’s SBCS PASS organisers; theygraduated in the summer but have all continued to study… (All the alumni in this section, along with others, are part of the PASS IT ON scheme, offering advice to currentmentors. Ask your student organiser or see last semester’s newsletter for details.)

Khaled Abid says that the juggling skills developedwhen he was a PASS mentor and organiser areuseful now he has to balance paid work with hisstudies on the graduate entry medical scheme atWhitechapel. He writes:

‘I am also running the London Marathon with theRead project (part of QMSU) this April, so wakingup at 5:30 in morning given the current climate hasbeen an enjoyable challenge!’

SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) is a volunteering

organisation run by students. For more information, visit

www.sife.org. QM SIFE was set up in summer 2009 and we

are currently carrying out a number of projects in the

local community. Our team has recently been awarded

a grant from HSBC to carry out a financial literacy

project, so now is an exciting time to get involved!

If you are interested, please email us: Sife@qmsu.org

Plea to (a few) mentorsfrom (some) studentorganisersPLEASE stick to the mentoring sessions youhave put yourself down for and don’t think alast-minute text to say you can’t come ismuch (or any) use!

Finding out moreAnyone reading this newsletter is likelyalready to be involved in PASS at QueenMary. However, if there is anything aboutwhich you would like to know more (or ifyou would like to contribute to the nextedition of this newsletter), please contact:

Dr Debbie Andrews, Peer-mentoringCoordinator (Widening Participation Team,Corporate Affairs):d.m.andrews@qmul.ac.uk

Below is a list of the key PASS people inschools and departments. These are theacademic coordinators and theundergraduate student organisers, each ofwhom is a PASS mentor leading a team ofmentors.

Established PASS schools and departments

Biological and Chemical SciencesAcademic coordinator: Dr Caroline Brennan;student organisers: Serap Gonen, SilasMellor, Kostadin Stoenchev

Computer ScienceAcademic coordinator: Dr Tassos Tombros;student organiser: James Snee

DentistryAcademic coordinator: Dr Sahar Mohsin;student organiser: Prina Patel

Electronic EngineeringAcademic coordinator: Dr Janine Lajudie;student organisers: Helena du Toit, MerottMovahedi

Engineering and Materials ScienceAcademic coordinator: Professor JuliaShelton; student organisers: Mel Gabriel,Mohamed Kadir

Mathematical SciencesAcademic coordinator: Dr Robert Johnson;student organiser: Rishi Shah

Schools and departments running PASS as a pilot this academic year

Languages, Linguistics and FilmAcademic coordinator: Dr KirsteenAnderson; student organisers: StephMurray, Jo Piddock

PASS

Tendai Dzvuke writes:

‘I am currently studying dental surgery at the University of Aberdeen. At first I was quitescared making such a big move and being so far away from home but now that I am here Iam having a fantastic time. The course is graduate entry and is very intense, but so far I amenjoying the fast pace. I think being a PASS mentor was an impressive aspect of mypersonal statement so I encourage all you budding medics and dentists to continue in thescheme. Also the skills I picked up organising the sessions have helped me in many areasof my studies.’

Tendai, in gown and mask, was recently pictured on the Aberdeen University website withScotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond at the official opening of the Aberdeen Dental School.

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